Still, though on this single point the success of the scheme did not
fully correspond to the hopes of those who had framed it, it was one
which did great honor to their ingenuity as well as to their
philanthropy (Lord Stanley, as Colonial Secretary, being the minister to
whose department it belonged). And the nation itself is fairly entitled
to no small credit for its cordial, ungrudging approval of a measure of
such unprecedented liberality. Indeed, the credit deserved was frankly
allowed it by foreign countries. To quote the language of an eloquent
historian of the period, "the generous acquiescence of the people under
this prodigious increase of their burdens has caused the moralists of
other nations to declare that the British Act of Emancipation stands
alone for moral grandeur in the history of the world."[228] And, in
respect of the personal liberty of the subject, it may be said to have
completed the British constitution; establishing the glorious principle,
that freedom is not limited to one part of our sovereign's dominions, to
these islands alone, but that in no part of the world in which the
British flag is erected can any sort of slavery exist for a single
moment.
The abolition of the political authority of the East India Company,
which took place some years after the time at which we have arrived, and
which will be mentioned in a subsequent chapter, would make it
unnecessary to mention the renewal of its charter, which took place at
this time, were it not that the force of public opinion again made
itself felt in some important limitations of its previous rights.
Pages:
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517